Hello Everyone!
In the next month I’ll be traveling to the Dallas area and wanted to know if anyone could recommend a good hobbyshop for a HO scale models. Thanks in advance!!!
Discount Model Trains in Addison is the largest in the area. Stock varies from time to time. Hobby Maker in Bedford has or is closing. Not much left there. MAL in Irving is a hole in the wall. If you look around there is always something good there. DMT in Addison is normally worth the trip but if you are looking for Athearn, Proto 2000 or a good selection of locos they leave somethings to be desired. They do have a lot of cars and accessories. Magazines and books are fairly good. They have a bunch of structures and details.
RMax1
I love Discount Model Trains in Addison. Don’t know if they are list or not price wise, but who cares - it’s a great store, well lit, fantastic inventory, very friendly staff. Last time there with the wife (“we don’t come to Dallas all that often, can we just stop by for a few minutes”) I spent darn near an hour and a half just roaming the aisles and looking at all the detail parts. Spent about $100. Way cool place.
Since Bobbye Hall’s closed, the store in Addison is by far and away the best one in the area.
DMT is on the East side of the Addison Airport where some of those Walker Texas Ranger episodes were filmed. And yes it is a great place to visit.
I will reitterate the above–Discount Model Trains is the best shop for having great stock of nearly anything that can be found on a shelf anywhere in any scale. In short, it is the best local train store i have ever entered anywhere. I now live in Missouri, but I still buy from DMT over the phone via mail from time to time. I’m sorry to hear about Hobby Maker in Bedford. I lived in Watauga, northe of Fort Worth, for 6 years and frequented Hobby Maker a lot for simple items, especially paint and scratch building materials. My kids used to buy Thomas the Tank Engine and doll house items there also. There is a g reat store that is strictly N scale in south fort worth called Hobby World I think, but it has no or virtually no HO scale items. It was great for me as an N scaler because, though the shop was a sideline for the owner and had odd hours, they usually had items in N scale that I could find nowhere else.
Ron
i have to agree with everybody discount is a good hobby shop. i didnt know that hobby maker was closing.
however you might want to look in the d/fw yellow pages when you get here or online even and to get maps and directions, as there are a lot of hobby shops in the d/fw metroplex area.
i currently live in sherman about 75 miles north of dallas and we dont even have a decent hobby shop here at all—not a single one at all
tom
Thank you guys for all the info! Sounds like the Discount Model Trains is the bet.
Rockisland,
Make sure you let us know what you thought of your trip when you return!
Hobby Maker is gone. The last day was llast Saturday. They were selling everything for 90% off. Of course there wasn’t much left. I did drop about $20, mostly books and magazines.
The Silver Spike in Denton is a good small shop. Prices are lower than list and the owner will get you anything you need fast.
Paul
Silver Spike is a good shop with one of the most knowledgable and helpful owners around. In most cases, however, you can count on ordering what you want as he doesn’t have that much in stock.
Ron
I, too, will be in Dallas/Ft. Worth soon. Any other stores besides those mentioned? I seem to recall a great store with lots of resale items on the north side of Dallas several years ago. [8D]
They May Not Be Very Big,But Hobby World in Fort Worth;Model Train Crossing in Hurst and Angelo Hobbies in North Richland Hills Are Very Good.Theyr’e Small,But Their Staff Is Very Knowledgeable and Helpful.
Discount rocks!
I’m new to the hobby and everyone I talked with about trains advised Discount Trains is the place to go for this hobby. I finally visited Discount Trains and spent over 2 hours there going through their stock, having my questions answered and trying out different locomotives. I purchased one locomotive and ordered another one the next day, since I live 75 miles north. Their stock on hand is unbelievable. If an item is made, there is a great chance they have it in stock or just ran out due to the large amount of people that visit and purchase from them. Their prices are great even compared with internet sites. I’m sold on them and they will be the place I make my purchase from in the future. It is great being able to put your hands on the items you read about. They had so many items on hand I had to make decisions about what to purchase during my visit with them. If you are in the area they should be on the must visit list.
Dan
coolbird i too live 75 miles north of Dallas, where do you live at? im in sherman. email me via the link in my profile and perhaps we can get togehter.
tom in sherman, tx
Yep, DMT is the way to go. They price normally at 20% off MSRP. Sale items get an even deeper discount. When my father in law visits from California, we always go to DMT. He has them ship it to CA to avoid the state sales tax. They do charge for shipping, but he spends enough to where shipping is cheaper than the taxes.
Another store is Collectable Trains and Toys. They are off of 635 and Audelia. They seem to be really proud of thier stuff, as the prices show it, and the selection is not as good as DMT. Collectable does sell used items and has lots of old Lionel stuff. They also sell Marklin HO. Sometimes you can find neat used stuff. I found an N McCloud River Railway box car. I bought it since I have seen that particular car on the MRR when I took a speeder run with my father in law.
I live about 40 miles east of Dallas, towards Greenville. My mother lives in Sherman, though.